The Two Witnesses are Elijah and Moses

Friday, 31 August 2007 14:56 | Written by Richard S. Thompson |

The Two Witnesses are Elijah and Moses

The Bible prophesies that two witnesses will testify for the Lord in Jerusalem during the tribulation. There are two passages that describe these two witnesses. They appear below: Zechariah 4:1-14 Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied. So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!'" Then the word of the LORD came to me: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)" Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" Again I asked him, "What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?" He replied, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I said. So he said, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth."

Revelation 11:3-13 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Though the witnesses are not named in the above passages there are several good reasons to conclude that they are Moses and Elijah
1. We know Elijah is coming back before the 2nd Advent of Christ according to the book of Malachi and testimony of Jesus Christ Himself in the Gospels. If Elijah is not one of the two witnesses described in Revelation, he is not mentioned in Revelation at all. Futhermore, you will notice that Moses is mentioned in the verse before Elijah is mentioned in Malachi 4.
Malachi 4:4-6 "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."
Matthew 17:11 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things."
Luke 9:12 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things."
2. We know that both Moses and Elijah were revealed with Christ in His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, and that seems to indicate some special kind of association of the two related to the 2nd Advent of Christ in His glory.

Matthew 17:2-3 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Mark 9:2-4 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
Luke 9:29-31 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.
3. If you read the accounts of the ends of the lives of Moses and Elijah we find that no one knows where their bodies are and that both disappeared in the same place.End of Moses' life - Moses disappearance involved a burial service which the Lord arranged and involved a conflict between the Angelic and Demonic forces.
Deuteronomy 34:1-6 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land--from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
End of Elijah's life - Similarly Elijah was taken up and his body was never found.2 Kings 2:1-11 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha replied, "but do not speak of it." Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho. The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," he replied, "but do not speak of it." Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them walked on. Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied. "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours--otherwise not." As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.[1]
Location of Moses' and Elijah's End - It is interesting to note that some 600 years after Moses was buried somewhere in the foothills east of the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord told Elijah to go from Gilgal (somewhere north of Bethel) to the same area a distance of over sixty miles on foot. The purpose for this was definitely not because that was the closest trunkline of the angelic chariot, but because the place was significant in some other respect.
4. Moses and Elijah are associated with the two witnesses as revealed in Revelation and Zechariah in that they are given four powers (Revelation 11:5-6) associated only with Moses and Elijah.
Revelation 11:5-6 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. First power - if anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. Associated with Elijah:2 Kings 1:9-12 Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!'" Elijah answered the captain, "If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men. At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, "Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!'" "If I am a man of God," Elijah replied, "may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
Second power - these men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying. Associated with Elijah:1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
Third power - they have power to turn the waters into blood. Associated with Moses:Exodus 7:20 Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood.
Fourth power - they have power to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. Associated with Moses:
Exodus Chapters 5-12
5. The time of the power of the two witnesses is the same as the time of Elijah's power over the rain. "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days (three and a half years)" Associated with Elijah:
Luke 4:25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. James 5:17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
6. There is a striking similarity between the message to Elijah at his failure after the threats of Jezebel, and the message in Zechariah which is the witness of the two olive trees.
1 Kings 19:11-12 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
Zechariah 4:5-6 He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied. So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.

7. It is worth noting that three men spent forty days of testing on Sinai (also called Horeb and "the Wilderness"), Moses, Elijah and Jesus Christ. Moses and Elijah were shown the presence of God, perhaps as a preview to when they would see Him face to face on Mount Hermon.
Exodus 24:18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
1 Kings 19:8-9 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Matthew 4:1-2 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert (literally "the Wilderness" which always refers to the wilderness of Mt. Sinai) to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

To me it is very poignant and a testimony of the Lord's unfailing grace, that He took Moses' and Elijah's failures in not appreciating the source of His power and turned them into a triumph. They get to spend three and a half years putting the lesson into action.

8. Also God tried to show both Moses and Elijah His Glory at Mount Sinai when they were on earth, but couldn't:Exodus 33:18-23 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
1 Kings 19:11-13 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

9. Both Moses and Elijah crossed over a body of water dry shod:Exodus 14:21-22 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall[2] of water on their right and on their left.
2 Kings 2:8b-9 Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

10. The two witnesses testify in Jerusalem before the fulfillment of the promises to Israel with the establishment of the Kingdom in the Millenium. It would seem only appropriate that the witnesses are both Israelites. This is as opposed to the contention that Enoch, a Gentile, was the other witness. See next note.

11. Many commentators have speculated that Enoch is the second witness along with Elijah. This is based on the fact that both Elijah and Enoch are never recorded as dying. Elijah of course was taken up to heaven in a chariot. Enoch, according to Hebrews also never died.
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
This is combined with another passage in Hebrews:
Hebrews 9:27 "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment."
It is then argued that since the two witnesses in Revelation are killed, Moses could not be one of them because he already died once, and to die again would be impossible according to Hebrews 9:27. Of course this is a pretty flimsy argument for two reasons. First, the translation of Hebrews 9:27 is faulty, and second, in the scriptures we have the record of seven people who died and came to life again only to eventually die (they died twice). The seven cases are, the widow's son raised by Elijah (1 Kings 17:17-23), the son of the woman of Shunem raised by Elisha (2 Kings 4:17-35), the man raised by coming in contact with the bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21), the son of the widow of Nain raised by Jesus Christ (Luke 7:11-15), the daughter of Jairus raised by Jesus Christ (Matthew 9:23-25, Mark 5:35-42, and Luke 8:49-52), Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Mary and Martha raised by Jesus Christ (John 11:1-44) and Tabitha / Dorcas of Lydda raised by Peter (Acts 9:36-41).
These instances present us with a quandry. Either Hebrews 9:27 is wrong (an impossibility) or it is mistranslated or misunderstood. A look at the entire passage and the Greek gives us the solution to the problem. It all relates to the understanding of the Greek word a{pax (hapax) which appears three times in the passage. It is better understood as "first" (see the footnotes of relating to the passage below).
Hebrews 9:26-28 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all first[3] at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined (or appointed KJV,ASV,RSV) to die once first,[4] and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once first[5] to take away the sins of many people;[6] and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.[7]

So then, the Bible does not say that a man can only die once, which clears up the seeming contradiction with the clear record of scripture. It only says that he must die first, before judgment. Also, this translation makes Moses eligible for being the second witness.
Anther passage used to justify Enoch as a pick for the second witness is Jude 1:14: Jude 1:14-15 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
It is argued that since Enoch prophecied about the Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation, he must be connected with the Tribulation as the witness. Of course, nearly every prophet in the Old Testament had some prophecy about the Tribulation.
These slender connections are pretty much the extent of the Biblical justification for picking Enoch. There is also a long (over 1,500 years) non-Biblical tradition of chosing Enoch as the second witness. However, it is also worth noting that the two witnesses are also called the two olive trees in both Zechariah 4 and Revelation 11. The olive tree is usually associated with Israel (Jeremiah 11:16, Romans 11:24). Also, according to Daniel, seventy weeks were established during which Daniel's people, would finish God's plan.
Daniel 9:24 "Seventy ‘sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy."
The seven year Tribulation is the last part of that period. When it is finished, everything would be accomplished. The mission is for Israel. The 144,000 witnesses will all be from Israel. So also, it would seem would be the two witnesses. Enoch is not a son of Israel.

12. The Lord appointed seventy witnesses to go before him two by two. The question is, why not two for every tribe, or seventy two? In Numbers Moses called seventy elders out of the camp who were anointed by the Spirit. However, two elders, named Eldad and Medad, that were in the camp were also anointed by the Spirit. I believe that the Lord sent the witnesses two by two into every town he went into except Jerusalem. He saved the seventy first and seventy second witnesses for Jerusalem in the last day and they were El and M (Elijah and Moses) not their foreshadows El and M (Eldad and Medad).
Matthew 10:1-17 After this the Lord appointed seventy [8] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. "When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.' But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." The seventy [9] returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
Numbers 11:24-27 So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
Notice that the names of the two witnesses who will witness in the camp are Eldad (whom God has loved ) and Medad (love). In the tribulation the two witness that will testify in the camp (Jerusalem) are Elijah and Moses.
Elihah - %*-u, Moses - %:/, Eldad -$$-u, Medad -$$*/
13. The following verse would seem to indicate that a promise was left unfulfilled to Moses.Exodus 34:10 Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you.
This is a peculiar promise. The miracles God did for Moses before his people before this time were by far the more spectacular than any that were done during the rest of Moses life. The plagues in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the daily provision of manna, the provision of quail, the bringing of water from the Rock of Rephidim were all miracles in Moses' past at this point. For the remainder of Moses life, the only unique miracles left were, the miracle of Aaron's rod that budded, and the brass serpent that cured the snake-bitten. What then is God talking about. I believe this promise to Moses has not yet been fulfilled. It will be, when Moses returns with Elijah and perform miracle after miracle for three and a half years.

[1] It is fitting that Elijah's departure is associated with a whirlwind. The whirlwind is almost universally connected to God's judgement. Elijah will return (I believe in the same manner) to announce the judgement of God at the beginning of the Tribulation. [2] Psalms 78:13 [3] The Greek word here is a{pax which according to Strongs is: a{pax (adverb) - once, once more, once for all; the Greek idiom "once and yet twice" means to do something repeatedly, "again and again" (Php 4:16). Notice the emphasis is not on the uniqueness of the event but the sequence. Think of the English use of "once" in the following sentence. "Once you have bathed, you will not be dirty." The emphasis is on the sequence. We do not understand the sentence to mean that having bathed "once," we will never be dirty again, but rather, that having "first" bathed we will not be dirty. The whole concept here is that before Christ could come to set up His Kingdom on earth He had to first atone for sin by His own blood. [4] Again the Greek word here is a{pax/. Again the concept is clearly on sequence of time, not uniqueness. Man is "appointed" a time. This is important in this verse, because I have heard it preached from this verse, that no man could truly die twice. However, that leaves in limbo, the cases of all those who were resuscitated from the dead like Lazarus, the son of the widow of Nain, the son of the Shunemite woman and others. That is no longer an issue if a{pax here is translated "first," instead of "once." [5] Again the Greek word here is a{pax/. Here also the concept is on sequence. First, Christ comes to take away sin, second, he comes bringing salvation. [6] "People" does not occur in the original Greek. The thought here is not "many" as opposed to "all," but "many" as opposed to "one." [7] Matthew 24:30-31 , Mark 13:26-27, Zechariah 14:4, etc. [8] This should almost certainly read seventy. That is the number in the textus receptus and many other manuscripts. Hort Westcott uses seventy-two. It also poses the question. Why not seventy two (twelve times six)?[9] See previous note.